Sams Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days: Covering Java 7 and Android

First off, on a scale of 1-5 stars, I give Sams Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days (I'll call it "Java in 21 Days" from now on) a rating of 4 stars. This book has been a pleasure to read and has been a great resource for learning the Java programming language. However, code errors and some lack-luster content prevent it from having a 5-star rating (in my opinion).Before I began reading this book, I scoured through at least a dozen other Java books, all of which I put down midway through them. They all had one major problem: incomplete code samples. I got tired of reading the phrase, "Visit the book's website for the full source code of this example." What made it even worse is when those websites were no longer available. It was very frustrating. I firmly believe that if you're going to teach programming in a book, you'd better provide full code examples in the book. If page count is the problem, I can see the author's dilemma, but for digital books, there's no excuse. Java in 21 Days provides full working code samples in the book with the option to download the code on the book's website. The only reason I had to go to the book's website was for some icons, which really could be downloaded anywhere, and also for a data file in the Networking chapter, and a database file in the XML-RPC chapter. The fact that the book's website is truly a companion, rather than a requirement, and that all code samples are complete, makes Java in 21 Days worth my time to read.The author, Rogers Cadenhead, does a remarkable job of presenting the subject matter in an easy-to-read manner. Now, this book was not written for the absolute beginner, but rather for folks who have at least some basic understanding of programming, regardless of the language. Previously, I have had experience in Python and JavaScript, so this book was right up my alley. An absolute beginner might want to start with Introduction to Programming Using Java by David J. Eck (a free download at http://math.hws.edu/javanotes/). After completing the first 3 - 5 chapters of that book (after chapter 5 code examples become incomplete), a person should be perfectly suited to dive into Java in 21 Days. On the flip side, if you have a lot of experience with Java, then this book might only be reference material for you.My real main problem with this book is that the last several chapters of the book had a few errors scattered throughout the code samples. At first, they were minor and I was able to spot them and easily correct them. But further along in the book, the errors were more problematic. For instance, in the database chapter, one code sample had a misplaced parenthesis and a missing semicolon. Then, in the RSS chapter, one code sample had an entire statement missing. I had to go back to a previous code sample to figure out the missing statement. There were other errors where the author intended to do one thing, but changed it later and forgot to update the surrounding text to correspond with the change. That wasn't so much of a problem, but it was a distraction.One other issue I had with the book is some lack-luster content. Maybe it is just me, but I felt that the chapters for Day 13 (Creating Java2D Graphics), Day 16 (Serializing and Examining Objects), Day 17 (Communicating Across the Internet), and Day 20 (XML Web Services) were a bit lacking. On those days, I just could not get into the subject matter and nothing seemed to make more than a bit of sense. I got the idea of what the author was trying to teach, but there were no real inspiring moments on those days. Again, perhaps it was just me and maybe a second time through the material will yield different results.Overall, I really enjoyed this book, despite what I thought were short-comings. so far, it has been the best beginner-level Java book I have read so far. I really did learn a lot about Java and programming in general while reading Java in 21 Days. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to explore the world of the Java programming language.

Coming into this purchase, I had never worked with Java before and my sole programming knowledge consisted of two semesters of college C++ many years ago. While this gave me some (very limited) knowledge of Object Oriented Programming, I really wanted to learn Java so I picked up the Kindle version of this book.Mr Cadenhead pretty reliably covers the fundamentals of Java and even gets quite in depth with the language. I think it is safe to say that he goes well beyond what an Intro course would teach for Java. Because of this, if you *really* want to learn Java in 21 days exactly, you can - just be prepared to read, re-read, practice, and practice some more. The pace of this book can be a little overwhelming at times, and I found it useful to hop to the internet for some queries about syntax and definitions that were sort of glossed over (in my opinion). Still, I have learned a lot. It is a great resource and very meaty with information. The exercises are extremely helpful and Mr. Cadenhead provides support on his webpage.

I have had some prior experience with programming in python. I wanted to get a feel for android so I jumped into Burds "Android application development All-in-one for dummies". I managed to hack my way to a pretty rudimentary application but I can't say I understood most of the java code I was piecing together. Eventually I picked up Cadenheads Sams teach yourself java in 21 days. I went through the first 8 days and they where a wonderful introduction to Java. Now I understand the basics of the java structure and syntax and I can proceed with android programming and actually understand what the heck I am doing.I am sure the remaining day 9-21 are just as good, I haven't gone through them because I have no need for it right now.In short I would recommend this to anyone wanting to get a basic grasp of java in the fastest way possible.

I think, if I read this book, do all the examples, and then go back and re-read what I didn't understand the 1st time through, I'll learn to code in java.EDIT: Ok, I've been spending time with the book. I do find numerous confusing points within. Thus, I've found it useful to supplement the book with online tutorials. They are EVERYWHERE! One could probably learn most of what one needs to with those tutorials. But, the book makes a good guide/outline. When I get confused by something, I go look for the same topic in a tutorial. That usually clears things up. If you Google "The Java Tutorials", which are found at an Oracle site, you can find more than you'll ever need to know.Further, if you search "introcs.cs", look for a Princeton connection. There,I found another very good site that supplements this book well. iTunes university had some java programming video training, as well. As I said, java is everywhere, online.

I haven't programmed in Java within the last 5 years so I needed a refresher with the syntax and especially with a few new features in Java 7. This book fit the bill for me. This book covered many of the basic topics with clear examples and discussions with general use cases. For a beginner this book might be a bit overwhelming. You would probably have to go over this book several times, consult other references or find a tutor. Other than that this was a great reference tool for me to get back up to speed coding in Java.

Working my way through the book at the moment, would recommend this for beginners, or anyone unfamiliar with object oriented programming. The step by step tutorials and examples make it easy to learn and understand some of the basics of programming Java, However I should warn there are some insignificant errors in syntax that I've come across in some of the instructions, but these are noted at the start of the text and I believe have been amended in alternative issues? If not the online support site that comes with the book at least offers better help for understanding these errors, in most cases these are simply syntax errors that you can solve yourself.

What more can I say...Indeed clear, easy and fun! Recomended for new starters with some basic coding background. I found the quick tips very helpfull and made my own refrences easy enough...

This is a well written book. It is easy to follow and well laid out. The content is easy to follow, has very good examples and I like the fact that it highlights the features that are new to Java 7. I like the fact that you have free access to an online version for 45 days and that all the sample code and additional information is available on the Java21days website. I did find a minor error or two in one of the sample code snippets but you can always send an e-mail to the author from the website. Overall a very good book from which to learn whether you are new to Java or doing a refresher.

Einstieg in Java, in 21 Tagesrationen aufgeteilt:Klare Formulierungen, nicht die Schachtelsatz-Exzesse mancher deutscher AutorenProfessionelle Schreibe, keine seitenlangen Eigenlob-Strecken wie bei manchen deutschen Autoren

Two weeks in. Amazing. Easy to follow. The exercise are fun. I wish at the end of the book or on the website there was more unique exercises to test what you learnt. Either way. 5 stars!!